Reconstructed leather.



NI ED sTATns PATENT curios.

MATTHEW MASON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE ARLINGTON LEATHER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

nuoous'rnucrnn LEATHER.

No Drawing.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 18, 1.911. Application filed August .20, 1909. Serial No. 513,751.

To all whom, it may concern.

Be it known that I, MATTHEW MAsoN, a

citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn of the city of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reconstructed Leather, of which the following .is a specification. I

The invention relates to improvements in compounds which are used as substitutes for leather, and its object is to provide a compound of this sort having superior qualities to those in use heretofore.

The present improvements belong to that class of artificial leathers in which leather scrap or old leather is employed as a base in contradistinction to those which contain rubber or require vulcanizing or are made up principally of gums. Various compounds have been devised heretofore, some containing leatherscrap and some not, for the purpose of producing an imitation leather which could be empolyed for various purposes where leather had formerly been used; but a nearer approach to real leather, both in appearance and so far as its physical characteristics are concerned, than is furnished by these existing compounds. has long been a desideratum.

I h'avediscovered that the use 'ofbalata gum, or balata, or gums similar thereto, in

connection with the reconstruction of leather from leather scrap or old leather, will produce when properly compounded, a substance havingall the physical qualitiesof leather and being remarkably similar thereto. I have also discovered that the mixture of balata and leather scrap may be treated with a substance like copal to produce a stiffness in the resulting'compound and with a substance like glycerin or other oleaginous substance to make the resulting compound modify. the flexibility of the resultant com pound, 2'. 6., they cause it to be more or less stiff or more or less pliable. The tern F flexibility is therefore to be given this broad and generic meaning In carrying out my improvements, I first grind .or otherwise reduce the leather to be used to a finely divided condition, preferably to one of shreds or fibers. Then I add to it about an equal part of balata from which the rosin has preferably been extracted, the leather and balata being thereafter intimately mixed by stirring and applying such heat as may be required to soften the balata. After the compound has been thoroughly mixed, it is run through hot or warm calender rolls, the material itself also being preferably warm, and the mass is thus rolled "for some purposes, it may be desirable to roll the mass out in several plies with alternating plies of cotton duck or sheeting.

The proportions of leather scrap and balata may be varied more or less, depending upon the use to which the finished compound is to be put, so that the proportions given above need not be strictly adhered to in carrying out the improvements. The addition of other ingredients'and their proportions will also depend upon the use to be made of the compound when finished. Where glycerin or Vaseline or linseed oil or the like is to be used to make the compound more pliable, a suflicient quantity, according to the degree of pliability required, is added to the mixture of leather scrap and balata; and

similarly, where a stiffening substance like shellac is to be employed, a sufficient quan-' Moreover, the compound may be colored by adding an appropriate colorin paint or pigment or by employing anihn dyes.

The mixture can be effected at ordinary temperatures and may be slightly warmed to soften the balata or other gum employed therein. When it has been intimately mixed, it is passed between'warm calender rolls in order to sheet it, and thereafter, if hydraulic leather is desired, the sheeted product is subjected to compression in a hydraulic press.

In this way an excellent homogeneous substitute for leather may be obtained with considerable. economy-of production owing to v the use of old waste leather or scrap in compounding it. 1

The improved product may be used in the various arts for which ordinary leather is available as well as for many uses to which rubber and gutta percha products are applied. Moreoi er, it is waterproof and can be molded in any form and pressed into various shapes.

'1 claim as my invention:

1. A compound consisting of leather and balata gum;

v 2. A compound consisting of leather and balata gum with the rosin extracted.

3. A compound consisting of a mixture of leather and balata gum, condensed by pressure.

4. A compound consisting of leather and balata um and a substance-which modifies the flexlbility of the resultant product.

This specification signed and witnessed this 18th day of August, A. 11,1909.

3 MATTHEW MASON.

Signed in the presence of,

G. MGGRANN, Looms E. VARNEY. 

